Thoughts from the Submarine

Submerged

Finding truth below the surface...

Our church took Backyard Kids Club to the inner-city kids of Hamilton, OH and it was a great stretching experience for me and the other teen leaders. They are an energetic bunch, so they could be a handful sometimes but it was sweet to see how the kids flooded us leaders with love and hugs. I hope I touched their lives in some way because they definitely impressed things upon my heart that I want to share here.

(Journal entry from 6/14/16)

I think God gave us a miracle tonight. Honestly, after the first night of BKC at Hamilton, I was like “I can’t handle this.” Every instinct in my body told me to retreat. Which sounds kinda melodramatic, but quite accurate. As an introvert and someone who crumbles in the face of conflict, I almost dreaded going back there today. Not exactly the fearless music leader I think I need to be…. Like I can be a confident light for God on stage, in my element. But when the music turns off and the lights fade, I have to be the adult in the room who can connect lovingly with the kids and yet be a firm adult at the same time. That takes WAY more social skill than I possess. What Firebird really wants to do is what she’s done all her life: sit aside and be the quiet/smart/obedient girl in the group while the adults handle the rowdy ones. But now I’m the adult.

*alarms go off in head*

*fights off urge to run to the nearest corner and stay there until the noise is over*

Today was all God. I cried out to Him in the bathroom before BKC today because I knew that I could not deal with these kids alone, these kids who I judged/sat as far away from as possible in my past. Any and all loving connections made tonight were such a clear answer to prayer. Monday night, I was exhausted-which is what life is when we live life our own way-exhausting. But tonight, I was jumping up and down after BKC…. I sprinted out of there like I could’ve run a marathon. I said I was running on adrenalin, but I realize now that I was running on Holy Spirit adrenalin. God gives us endless energy supply for what He needs us to accomplish. Far more, in fact. I had energy to spare!!! Miracles still happen, fam. God is alive and well. Look around, see the world through Jesus’ eyes, and seize every opportunity to do His will. Give all the credit to Him, and you will be blessed. Humbled. Honored. Join me in this journey of grace.

~Firebird
Look. Listen. Always find the beauty. 

Thoughts on a dragon

Pain.

It's something we we all think about, but rarely truly empathize with.

We dramatize it. We imagine ourselves desperate heroes, courageously fighting despite gaping wounds and gasping breathe. We feel our hearts throb with joy as we watch stories of people overcoming pain to defeat their foes at long last.

Pain, in our culture, is often a dragon. And we thrill to see it defeated by our heroes. We thrill to see our heroes be beaten to the ground, be beaten past all endurance--only to rise at long last to defeat their dragons.

There's nothing wrong with that.

Stories

Considering this blog is all about stories and thoughts and looking below the surface colors of the world.... I thought I'd pull up some older thoughts about stories themselves. Or at least how I view them.

I name thee my artsy post... So I shalt add many artsy
photos to make it look like my thoughts are very deep.

Because in the end, what is a story? A pile of squiggles thrown onto a page. A storm of pictures breathed from a metal box. A heap of memories sewn into a cloak of a daydream. A sea of sound waves flung out into the ears of another.

I mean seriously, doesn't this seem crazy to anyone else? We live, fight, love, cry, rejoice, and let our emotions get uproariously manipulated because of combinations of sounds and black marks. I mean isn't that crazy?


Life doesn't always make sense.

I guess that's what makes it beautiful.

The New Sexy

Recently, I saw two movies that were just really refreshing (two refreshing characters to be precise).

The first was in the R rated film Kiss Kiss Bang Bang which, while I liked it, Don’t Watch It. 

But! At one point, I just was like “Yes!!!”, I think I actually said that aloud. 

Anyway, this girl falls asleep on the couch at this party, and a guy, we'll call him Mark, comes in and begins to grope her leg and looking at her, and you just feel really really gross, and then the protagonist, Harry, comes in, he doesn’t even know her, but he’s like, “Don’t you f***ing touch her!” And Mark is twice Harry's size and ends up beating the crap out of him. But I was like wow, that was really impressive. (impressively bad, Am I right?)

Thoughts on Summer in General

Apologies. This was supposed to be posted much earlier, and was written, but I was gone all day so I didn't post it.... sorry....

Idilic summer days are here at last.

JK! Welcome to the wacky world of try-to-cram-in-as-much-as-we-possibly-can-in-the-three-short-months-of-break!

I mean seriously. Remember how you said things like "I'll do that over the summer" or "Well, just wait until summer. Then I'll have plenty of time for that!"

I now have stopped Chirascuro Sun from taking the GIF Supreme trophy.

FOOLS! YOU HAVE LIED TO YOUR SOULS!

Heart of the Matter Thoughts

This was technically supposed to be posted on Sunday, but I had to wait until Firebird made an introduction.... Oh well. The first week will be a little rough since we're still figuring it all out.

But anyways, we Purple Minds have been doing a devotional book called "Heart of the Matter" for over two months now, and we've tried to write down our thoughts on a discussion document. So we've decided to pick our favorite day's discussion and post it here.

Beauty in the Night

Can we all just take a second to appreciate the night? I know that humans are supposed to go to sleep with the bright orb of exploding hydrogen, but I really have a penchant for the midnight skies. Not to be poetic on purpose or anything (those guys are insane).

Cunctator Task--Harmony

Hello all!

Before I get into the actual content of this post, I have a couple announcements.

*Cue irritating boy scout song*

We Purple Minds intend to follow a loose sort of schedule in when we're posting things. We each will have a day upon which we shall post whatever we want. We will also post our favorite thought of the week concerning a devotional which we are doing called "Heart of the Matter." And finally we will post our Cunctator Tasks. 

The Schedule will look something like this:

Sunday--Heart of the Matter

Monday--Chiaroscuro Sun

Wednesday--Evanescent Pebble

Friday--Firebird

Saturday--Cunctator Task 

Fellow PMs, correct me if any of these are wrong. 

The Cunctator Tasks or CT (look up what Cunctator means, and you will understand) are weekly assignments on a topic that we will rotate in choosing. Unless otherwise specified, our response may be in the form of writing, picture, object... basically whatever. THE #1 RULE IS: you can't be late. We each must have it done by the meeting. If not, there will be a PUNISHMENT, which shall be recorded and posted here to record the absentee's infamy throughout the generations.

Out of our three responses, we'll pick our favorite and post it here. 

Meet Firebird

Firebird. 

A fiery spirit that fights for what its passionate for and soars above the stormy clouds.

The first part of my pen name, fire, is because I like to think of myself as a match, a small spark of fire that has the potential to either do great good or much harm. Fire refines gold, which is like how fiery trials shape us to be the people we are today. As a firebird, I hope to refine the people around me by challenging them to be the best person they can possibly be. I may be small in stature, just one little girl in a big world, but my words and actions can light a fire. A fire can either destroy or create. I want to be the kind that creates and inspires, a beacon of hope that burns brightly amidst the darkness. 

The second part of my pen name, bird, is a symbol of strength to me.

"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." (Isaiah 40:31) 

Life is hard. But when I'm exhausted, I can look to my Savior for the will to keep living.

Yeah, I know, I can be deep. Get used to it, because it happens quite often. But I'm not always that philosophical, I promise. I mean, I also chose the name Firebird because I can be quite a sassy firecracker sometimes. 

When I'm not making puns, I shamelessly sing in the shower and dance like nobody's watching. I'm a writer/reader/pianist/actress/singer/wannabe dancer. I love people, music, and Chick-fil-A waffle fries. That's enough of an introduction because it's 11:31pm and I should post this before midnight. (Clearly, I'm also a professional procrastinator.)

~Firebird
Look. Listen. Always find the beauty.

Introduction #B

This is my profile picture by the way.
I thought I'd put it in the beginning here.
I didn't draw it, I'm not sure who did. But
I like it. 

Hello! As Chiaroscuro Sun said previously, we are the 3 Purple Minds, who hopefully shall now inhabit this corner of the internet. La dee da dee da etc. etc. etc. We'll probably write an introduction about the basic make up of the blog eventually.

But me personally? I hope to be able to throw out my words and see them explode on paper... er--electronic screen. But no matter the format in which you (our hopefully numerous readers) read this, I hope you will have your minds blown, your thoughts challenged, your worlds shaken, your imaginations exalted, and your life expanded. And I hope my work can help do that, while helping me process the world in the process.

Hello Internet!

I’m one of the three current authors on this blog. Hopefully, we’ll be posting about four times a week from here on out, although no promises! All three of us have a lot going on in our lives.

Personally, I hope to make this blog a place for colorful ideas, mundane conundrums, unique perspectives, and explosive imaginations. If you guys leave comments (if there is actually anybody reading this) I will try and get back to you quickly. Once again, not promising anything!

Introduction

Welcome to the Purple Minds.